Ha! Maggie is singing Electric Light Orchestra’s “Oh Oh It’s Magic” while she cooks. I think that song is on one of the latest F00s (if you don’t know what our F00 CDs are, check Colin’s website on the topic here).  Maggie is a singer, no doubt about it.  She composes songs whenever and where ever she is, and about whatever she wants.  And she likes to ask us to sing along, and gets upset if we don’t sing the right lyrics (even when she’s making them up as we go along).  Oh, to be two and have everyone tolerate your whims!  Now Degen’s in on the singing action, debating with Maggie about whether “Row Row Row Your Boat” or “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” is the song to sing at the moment, as they drop the red cord of my previous post down the back of the couch in true preschooler fishing style.

I think my favorite is the "Music Measles" idea that I may try this week.  You put red stickers on the music leader and the presidency, then tell the kids you have the "music measles" and that it's very contagious.  Then you start singing the songs and as you see kids sing you take stickers off the adults and put them on the kids and at the end you see who got the most measles.

There are also ideas on the site for Nursery music and for other organizations in the Church. 

This morning was pretty hectic with getting ready for church.  "Getting ready for church" means finding everyone's clothes, getting everyone showered or bathed, getting everyone into their clothes, packing the diaper bag, finish preparing lessons, gathering supplies for lessons, making breakfast, feeding everyone breakfast, and getting everyone in the car.  The last two weeks we've been trying to get to church at around 9am even though church doesn't start until 10am because I have to get the Primary room set up (put the chairs out in rows, get out the microphone, make sure there's nothing on the floor, unlock supply cabinets, etc.)  Last week both Colin and I were teaching, so it was pretty crazy, but this week I was teaching two lessons and the kids were grumpy, so this week was crazy too.  Oh, and Colin ended up subbing for a class in Primary because a teacher didn't show up, so it turned out we had to do three lessons between the two of us.  Yikes!

I may have mentioned that right now our Primary is seriously understaffed.  In addition to having very few teachers, we have no secretary (so I'm doing that job) or chorister, and my amazing first counselor is sick with pneumonia and was hospitalized the last two weeks.  This means that this week I did Sharing Time, Singing Time, and did a singing time with the nursery (18 months to 3 years old) myself.  My wonderful second counselor conducted and made assignments for next week and got copies of the class roles from the ward clerk and tons of other things (and next week she's doing Sharing Time!).  It makes me tired just thinking about it.  I'm extremely grateful for the people who substituted today and the people who helped watch Maggie while Colin and I were teaching because my job would have been virtually impossible without them.

After Primary I was planning to go to ward choir, but Colin and I were both exhausted, to say nothing of Maggie and Degen.  Both of them needed a diaper change and both were badly in need of a nap.  All of us were hungry.  It was so nice to come home and know that there were things worth eating in the house and that the sheets on the bed were clean because I'd changed them the day before. 

I hear Maggie waking up… 

The YW General President, Sis. Tanner, gave a talk about how we need to understand our identities as daughters of God and how much he loves us.  Her First Counselor talked about learning to repent and how we don't have to change ourselves alone–the Savior changes us as we humble ourselves.  Her Second Counselor talked about "staying on the path" of righteousness and not trying to see how close to the edge we can get.  I can't remember which speaker it was who emphasized modesty.  Maybe it was a couple of them, but they brought it up a couple of times in the meeting.

President Hinckley spoke next.  I was surprised at how frail and thin he looked, but I admire his ability to keep at it even though he's obviously not feeling well.  He gave a Napoleon Dynamite Pedro-like "your wildest dreams will come true" sort of promise tonight.  If you will 1) pray, 2) study, 3) pay an honest tithe, and 4) attend your church meetings, then your success will be beyond what you could ever expect was the jist of it. I felt sure that his promise applied to me, as well as the young women. 

It seemed like the theme of the meeting was helping the young women understand that they are daughters of God and need to act like it in order to be happy.  Thanks to everyone who participated for the inspirational meeting!